Building a gym: A Lawrence small business success story

As Queen’s “Fat Bottomed Girls” segues into AD/DC’s “Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap,” the dozen or so men and women doing pushups and situps, or throwing oversized medicine balls against a wall, are getting a little sluggish.

CrossFit trainer and gym owner Thomas Thatcher encourages a client during a workout session at the CrossFit Lawrence facility, 701 E. 22nd St.

Believe it or not, they’ve all actually paid their money to be subjected to a form of exercise torture inside a small warehouse in eastern Lawrence Wednesday night.

The shaggy-haired, tattooed maestro of the orchestrated exercise madness takes note that the group is slowing down. And there’s a long way to go.

“Go, go, go,” he shouts, weaving in and out of the exercisers at various stations, as barbells and kettle balls fly about.

“Watch the posture,” he enthusiastically tells a woman whose squatting form is getting a little sloppy.

He gets right in the face of a young man who’s showing the pain and frustration in his eyes every time he bends down for another dead lift.

“Watch the game face,” he admonishes.

This isn’t your typical exercise class. And Thomas Thatcher, a 24-year-old former Marine who’s bounced back after a mental breakdown in 2010, doesn’t look like a typical small business owner.

Backyard workouts

Step inside the CrossFit Lawrence facility, 701 E. 22nd St., and you’ll be greeted by a shirtless Thatcher, his left arm and shoulder adorned with a Marine “sharpshooter” tattoo.

His body is a walking testimonial to the advantages of CrossFit, an international fitness phenomenon that marries elements of group fitness and competition. It began in 2003 as a fitness blog and now has a national organization with 4,500 affiliate gyms and more than 3,000 certified CrossFit trainers. Thatcher calls it “adult phys ed.”

About 5 foot 8 inches tall, 165 pounds, Thatcher doesn’t appear to have an ounce of fat on him. With each movement, muscles contract and twitch in Thatcher’s compact physique.

As he begins to tell the story of how he built his business, he pours a powdered protein mixture into a small plastic bag, adds water and chugs the impromptu shake in one gulp.

When he was discharged from the Marines in 2010 after serving two tours overseas, the Overland Park native moved to Lawrence with his younger brother and enrolled in KU with a goal of getting a degree in exercise science. Realizing he’d gotten a little out of shape since his discharge, Thatcher ran across CrossFit training on the Internet and was hooked.

“It just blew my mind,” he says.

Get Thatcher started talking about CrossFit, and it’s difficult to slow him down; it’s the competition, pitting yourself against your own body, measuring yourself against others, the rush of the training, he tells you. The strenuous CrossFit training regimen began in a Seattle gym in 2000 and has spread quickly to nearly 5,000 locations around the world. The company licenses the program to entrepreneurs like Thatcher and trains them.

To spread the CrossFit gospel, Thatcher needed a place to train. He asked his landlord if he could set up a little workout area in the backyard and got started with oversized tires and pullup bars. Pretty soon, friends and neighbors started stopping by for workouts as CrossFit training gained in popularity.

Fall — and colder weather — was coming, so Thatcher started hatching plans to build a gym based on the CrossFit principles.

But the stress of starting a business and college classes sent Thatcher over the edge. He wasn’t sleeping, and friends and family became increasingly concerned about his mental health.

“I just drove myself into a mania,” he says. “I didn’t really know what was going on.”

Thatcher was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and spent two weeks each at Osawatomie State Hospital and the VA Hospital in Topeka in the fall of 2010.

His hospital stays caused him to fail his KU classes, and he says he hit rock bottom.

“I just sat around, depressed,” Thatcher says.

But as 2011 started up, Thatcher re-enrolled at KU and started earning training certifications from the CrossFit organization, which can cost anywhere from $500 to $1,000. He restarted his backyard workouts, and as his mental health stabilized, Thatcher again started thinking of ways to get his gym going.

He needed a building, and for that, he needed money. That’s where Thatcher’s natural enthusiasm and charisma came in handy.

Tracy Williams and her husband, Jason, were two of Thatcher’s devout backyard workout followers, and felt compelled to help keep the gym going.

“We started getting freaked out that it would close down,” says Tracy, who began working out with Thomas in his backyard in 2010.

Thatcher made the Williamses and several others a novel offer: plunk down $2,500 per family so Thatcher could open a gym, and they’d have a lifetime membership. Regular members pay about $100 a month.

That sounds like a risky gamble but not for Tracy. When Thatcher promised that he’d be successful and that the gym would grow and last, the Williamses were in.

Thatcher was able to sign up several other lifetime members and secure additional private loans from other members.

“It’s because it’s Thomas,” Tracy says of grabbing the deal. “His energy, his knowledge, his passion. He cares that much about people.”

‘Drop your ego at the door’

On Wednesday night, April Wright, a 31-year-old Lawrence mother of two, was the first to head on the “Haskell Run,” a one-mile run with a 25-pound dumbbell that is the last obstacle to the day’s workout. Wright, along with the other CrossFit members that night, went through a tortuous cycle of exercises, all catered to their individual goals. They all go through a cycle of squats, lunges, dead lifts, situps and few other unrecognizable body movements. The more advanced members use heavier weights or do more reps.

Each day, the gym offers three exercise classes designed around the CrossFit workout of the day, posted on the official CrossFit website and practiced by hundreds of gyms like Thatcher’s across the globe. At other times, members come in for workouts, receiving encouragement from the gym’s four trainers.

Wright, who began CrossFit training this summer, returns from the run, lies down and closes her eyes in the corner of the gym. She’s the first done today, in just under 45 minutes. She catches her breath and smiles, saying this is the first time she’s beaten all the other members.

No man who comes to the gym wants to be outlifted by a woman. And the women love being stronger than some of the men. “Intensity breeds results,” Thatcher says.

Thatcher says he realizes the scoreboards and the competition can seem intimidating to newcomers. “It’s intimidating to everyone,” he says. But just “leave your ego at the door,” and he promises results.

Small goals

Thatcher credits CrossFit and a healthy lifestyle with helping him bounce back from his mental health struggles. When he talks about that dark period in his life, he says he focused on achieving small goals. Sometimes that meant simply completing a grueling workout during the day. “I found my happiness through exercise,” he says.

As membership has grown at his gym, he finds himself learning the ropes of running a business and employing three other trainers. Ask him about the future, and he says he hopes to keep growing the gym, maybe moving into a larger facility.

But he’ll keep his eye on the smaller goals long the way, which right now are focused on his members. In an instant, he can rattle off the success stories he’s seen over the past year.

Some of his members just want to cut some weight; others are trying to tame sore backs and knees. And a few aim to compete in the annual CrossFit Games, a competition between the fittest CrossFit athletes across the country.

"It's kind of a stretch to call this a small business success story considering that it's just a gym and they've been open for less than two years."

I'm just wondering how my two businesses (12 yrs and 3 yrs) can get this kind of front page press...??? Is this advertising something this "gym" paid for? I agree on trying to call this business a "success"...especially since most places like this go belly up within 5 years. Could someone at the LJW let us know how much a story like this costs?? I know many other, proven successful, business owners who would love the opportunity to get their business(s) profiled on the front page.

gsxr600 - I'm personally not a crossfitter (competitive powerlifter & yoga instructor) but I have trained in crossfit and have a lot of experience with it. I don't disagree that a lot of new lifters are pushed too hard or push themselves too hard thanks to the competition aspect of crossfit. That being said, the coaching staff at CFL are reasonable folks who encourage their clients to take it slow and focus on proper form and technique over big weight.

Whats the deal with all the negative comments. Sounds like a win win to me, people getting in shape, a small business doing well and a person who fought through life issues to do something he loves to do.

rimtyco, you don't seem to realize that many on these boards are only here for the opportunity to snipe at others from the security of their computers. Props to this young man for making something of himself!

I'm the yoga instructor at CFL and a friend of Thomas's. I started with CFL back when Thomas and Kyle ran the business out of their backyard.

I'm proud of what Thomas - and Kyle - created here in Lawrence. They're passionate about what they do and their over-the-top enthusiasm for fitness and their level of care and concern for their clients makes CFL a warm, friendly, and inviting place. The crossfit community in Lawrence has grown leaps and bounds thanks to their dedication. These guys live and breathe their work - as do most successful (and unsuccessful) small business owners.

CFL is one of my favorite places to teach yoga as the community is always so friendly, fun and respectful. Thomas is in my class every Saturday he's not competing or coaching one of his competitors.

As for the price, it's quite reasonable - especially in comparison to crossfit gyms around the country which will run closer to $200-$300/mo. Remember that membership not only includes unlimited gym time, but coaching.

I think the point the reporter is making here is that it's remarkable that a young veteran, in his early-to-mid-twenties, developed a small but thriving business and fitness community following a difficult re-acclimation period once he returned to civilian life. Thomas's tenacity is uncommon and I, for one, am proud of what he's accomplished thus far and look forward to seeing what Thomas and Kyle build in the future.

Great post...
People need to realize that what makes this a story is not the gym, but the human interest story behind the gym as well and the difficulties (personal or otherwise) that were circumvented or overcame....and I've never been there and know nothing about these people...so if Pork_Ribs has something similar, then please do share...

Why do we never see the chamber cheerleaders giving their thumbs up to small businesses in Lawrence that are making a go of it, most likely without their help? Why do they only cheerlead when one of their own move into chamber jobs that produce nothing?

Bob_Loblaw and Shaun: I'd just like to see a success story where the person isn't a victim of one kind or another. The person who made the right decisions, who didn't use drugs, or didn't have some ailment or make a choice in their life that they have to overcome. Oh that's right...we would be the business owners that the liberals are going after to pay off debt and their health care. They have to demonize us. Everyone wants to be a victim in our current culture and they're glorified when they do the most mundane things. At $100/mo...I hope not...but history and common business sense tells me they will by out of business in under 4 years.

You're doing a pretty good job of making yourself sound like a victim as well. Liberals are going after you? You're being demonized? Oh the humanity! If you're business is so interesting, please tell us about it. Seriously.